1. From industrial wasteland to urban lure

    As president/CEO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Mark Wallace, MPP ’04, oversees ‘the best riverwalk in the country.’ With $1.8 billion in investments over two decades, visitors have gone from essentially zero to 3 million.

  2. Soccer in Motown: ‘Passion for our city, passion for the game’

    Michigan alumnus Alex Wright is a co-founder of Detroit City FC, a minor-league soccer team that strives to satisfy the demand for soccer in downtown Detroit, represent the city in a positive light, and build community.

  3. Urban agriculture: Scattering vs. clustering

    Detroit’ goal: To benefit more people with improved access to fresh food, community cohesion, and reduced stormwater runoff, while countering gentrification effects that may occur with expanded green space.

  4. Dearborn professor works in partnership to reinvigorate Detroit

    Detroit has plenty of negative stereotypes, and Paul Draus hopes to transform seemingly undesirable qualities into benefits. The professor of sociology at UM-Dearborn has partnered with people to bring greenspaces to alleyways and windmills to neighborhoods.

  5. Detroit River narratives emerge through schooner trips, boat building

    U-M’s Detroit River Story Lab partners with community groups in Flint and Detroit to teach schoolchildren about ship construction and buoyancy, river ecology, and the river’s role in the history of the Underground Railroad.

  6. Giving music: Alum shares violin and life lessons

    Clara Hardie, U-M grad and Detroit resident, co-founded Detroit Youth Volume in 2010, a mixed-income Suzuki violin program that offers scholarships and extra support for lower income students seeking classical music training.

  7. Detroit partnerships on the rise during COVID

    U-M ramped up collaborations in Detroit during the pandemic to help residents address food insecurity, unemployment, eviction reform, and more.

  8. Study links Detroit’s home repair program to housing stability

    Low-income homeowners supported by a $1 million grant increased their chances of remaining in their homes long term after completing major repair and safety projects.

  9. ‘Build something that wasn’t there before’

    More than 82 percent of Detroit’s homeless families are led by single women. Amy Good, BA ’77/MSW ’80, answered her mentor 30 years ago by co-founding Alternatives for Girls. The Detroit nonprofit helps young women in crisis or at-risk for abuse, human trafficking, and more.